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Migos, 'Avalanche'

The fact that it took this long for the Migos to rap over "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a crime. The cadence of The Temptations masterpiece — laid bare with some 808s and sampled in their latest single, "Avalanche" — was begging for the triplet flow. Who better than the trio whose namesake is world-renowned for that rhyme pattern?

To honor such a task, the North Atlanta pioneers married the old and new as Quavo kicks flav out the gate: "Papa was a rollin' stone now we got rollin' stones in the bezel / Mama at home all alone, hustlin, tryna keep this s*** together." He even added another double entendre by coining Migos the greatest group in the world, à la The Rolling Stones. "Avalanche" is the perfect statement piece to open part three of the Culture trilogy.

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Bobby Carter
Bobby Carter is a leader on the Tiny Desk Concerts team for NPR Music. He's brought an ever growing roster of big names and emerging artists through NPR's HQ to squeeze behind the desk of All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen and record standout performances, including Usher, Mac Miller, Noname, Anderson.Paak and H.E.R.